Adjustable floor drain



Feb. 10, 1931. D. s. WILLIAMS ADJUSTABLE FLOOR DRAIN Filed June 5, 1928INVENTOR Z B rm ATTORNEYS level of the safe pan and conveyingit im-Patented Feb. 10, 1 931 PATENT. FEE FE 'DAVID S. WILLIAMS, PORTLAND,OREGON" Anans'rABL-E rLoon DRAIN Application filed June 5, 1928. serialnmasaoca.

I :This invention relates to drains and has a particular reference todrains which are permanently emplaced'in a floor, roof, bottom of atank, or the like. v p i i The common 'type'of floor drain consists of.a sleeve permanentlyset into a floor of f concrete, metal, stone or thelike, this sleeve being connected with a waste-pipe. or trap beneath thefloor, and having an intake strainer in theform of a perforated plateusually set level with the floor, or, more often, i n.the bottom of adepression or safe pan for thecollection of the liquid. Frequently,the'intake strainer is not" set level with the bottom of the safe pan sothat a certain amount of liquid collects in the pan and fcannot flowaway, and when a large quantity of liquid is 'supplied at once the safepan floods be'causelthe drain is unable to carry v 1 away the excessliquid rapidly.

. It is the-principal objectof this invention to provide a drain whichprevents flooding lofthe safe pan when a large quantity of liquidisjsupplied, by removing the greater portioniof liquid from a pointabove the mediate'ly to a point well below the bottomof the pan, whilethe liquid in the pan below the elevated opening of the drain flowsthrough suitable openings around the drain tube and directly into thewaste pipe or trap. Thus a drain is provided which discharges liquidtothe full capacity of the waste pipes without flooding and with greatrapidity, whereby fewer drains may be employed, each of which 7 remainsdry and sanitary when not in use because no liquid is allowed to collectin the v safe pan.

In accordance with this objectthe usual J40 floor drain sleeve isprovided with an aux- 7 iliary sleeve having weep slots for thedischarge of liquid below the level of the drain tube which isadjustably mounted in this sleeve uponspaced projections formed in the 5interior '-walls thereof. The draintube is provided 'with interruptedspiral adjusting bars which rest upon the projections 'inthe auxiliarysleeve. By means of these spiral bars thevdrain tube may be adjusted sothat the intake opening thereof is elevated any dsired distance abovethe level of the safe pan, while the discharge; opening of the tube lieswell below thebottom of the pan. 'Accorda ingly, when large quantitiesof liquid are supplied tothe drain, the greater portion thereof isremoved from a point above the level of the safe pan and conveyeddirectly into the waste pipe or trap below the floor,

while the liquid in the safe pan below the level of the drain tubeintake flows. along the outside of the tube through the weep slots andinterrupted portions of the adjusting bars. The interrupted portionsofthe adj usting bars also serve as release slots whereby the drain tubemay be readilylifted out of the sleeve, the supporting projections onthe sleeve passing throughthese slots when the tube is beingremoved.

For va'better understanding of the invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, in which i Fig. 1 is a vertlcal section throughthe im proved drain of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the auxiliary sleeve; and r. Fig. 8is aperspective view thereof. In these drawings;v numeral 10 designatesthe'body or main sleeve of the drain which is formed cup-shaped on itsupper; 'surface so as to provide the customary safe pan, this main bodybeing emplaced in concrete as shown, or otherwise fastened to awooden'or metal floor, roof, tank bottom, or other surface. Over the topof the main body is placed the water-proofing 11, which may be leadsheathing or other sheet metal, or merely some composition materialthrough which only one hole is cut for the reception of the other partsof the drain. The upper and lower openings of body 10. are preferablythreaded as shown, the lower threads 12 being adapted to receivethewaste pipe or trap connection, disposed beneath the 'floor or othersurface, while the upper threads '13 are adapted to receive anauxiliarysleeve or lock screw 14. l e

This sleeve orlock screw 14' is illustrated particularly in perspectivein Fig. 3 and in planin Fig. 2. The interior surface of the tubularportion oi the Sleeve 1; is provided.

I with a series of longitudinal weep slots 15,

which communicate with weep slots 16 cut through a flange 17 formed onthe upper end of the tubular sleeve 14. lVhen this body and the sleeve14 is absolutely waterall in the same planes.

tight, any seepage water flowing sleeve 14. I

The interior surface of sleeve'14 is'provided at spaced intervals withseveral rows of integral projections 19 preferably placed between theinterior weep slots 15 as shown 7 particularly inFigs. Q and 73.: [Theseprojections 19 are preferably. staggeredwith res'pect to each other inthe manner illustrated particularly in Fig. '1,,' so that theyare notAccordingly, the auxiliary sleeve or look screw 14 appears inperspective as-shown in F 3.

Inserted in the opening of auxiliary sleeve 14 is the drain tube 20,which is preferably belled at its upper end asshown, and provided with aflange-21., This upper end, being the intake opening of the drain tube,is provided with a suitable strainer 22, which is preferably of the bartype as illustrated in Fig. 1. a This strainer may be secured in placein any suitable, way. The exterior surface of drain tube 20 is providedwith a plurality of adjusting bars 23, which arepreferably cast integralwith the draintube'ZO and are preferably made slanting, as shown in theform of a spiral. These bars are interrupted at 24 so as to form slots.longitudinally of the exterior surface of-thetube 20, but these slotsare not co-linear, but are staggered as illustrated in Fig. 1. w i

Accordingly, when drain tube 20 is inserted in auxiliary sleeve 14, theadjusting-bars 23 thereof are engaged by projections 19 so that thedrain tube is supported by these projections. Inasmuch as adjusting bars23 are made slanting, the elevation of the intake opening of the draintube may be adjusted with respect to the safe pan or the top ofauxiliary sleeve flange 17 merely by rotating the drain tube 20. If ahigher elevation of the tube is desired,oit is rotated from left toright, and if it is desired to depress the tube into sleeve 14, it maybe rotated from right to left.

The slots 24 in adjusting bars 23 allow the drain tube 20 tobe insertedrapidly without the necessity of screwing it down, be-

cause the tube may be inserted so that projections 19 pass through slots24 until the required elevation of the drain tube is obtained and thenthe tube is turned'slightly so that the projections 19 engage the barsthrough weep slots 16 and 15 down the inside of the from left to rightbecause the slots 24 are staggered as shown. This staggering is done sothat if, in adjusting, the tube should slip downwardly, it wouldstop'at'the next succeeding adjusting bar and not fall all the waythrough, which would take place if the slots 24 were in alignment.Obviously, the

drain tube 20 may be inserted as far as it I willgo, so thatffiange 21will rest upon flange 17 of sleeve 14, in the manner illustrated inphantom'in Figure 1.

In operation, the drain tube 20 may be elevated to any desired pointmerely by adjusting the tube in auxiliary sleeve 14 in the mannerdescribed. Assuming that the drain is to be supplied with a large amountof water or other liquidsothat the safe pan would ordinarily overflow inthe common typeof drain because the water is not carried to a pointsubstantially below the point where it is introduced into the drain; inthe new drain, however, the greater amount. of the liquidis withdrawnthrough strainer 22 from a point substantially above the surface ofthe'safe pan and conveyed through drain tube 20 into the waste pipe ortrap below the floor. The water in the safe pan below. the intake ofdrain tube 20, however, does not collect or tend to flood, but flowsthrough weep slots 16 and 15 between the inside surface sleeve 14 andthe outsidesurface of drain tube 20 and into the waste pipe or trapbelow;, In order that adjusting bars 23 do not close off the annularpassage between drain tube 20 and sleeve 14, the slots 24 also cooperateto provide a weep slot for the passageof the liquid so that it does'notaccumulate'inthe drain pan but may flow freely into the waste pipe ortrap below.- In any-case,;no matter what the elevation of drain tube 20may be, the

liquid is carried well below-the intake opening thereof by the elongatedtube portion thereof so that no-fiooding can occur. Furthermore, as weepslots 14 are made flush with the bottom of the safe pan, noliquid canaccumulate or remain in the drain pan, as often occurs in the ordinarytype of drain, because of a flange on the drain which rises above thebottom of the drain pan.

- It will'be seen that the new drain provides a very inexpensive andeffective drainwhich removes liquid from a floor or other surfacewithout flooding, and to the 'fullcapacity of the wastepipes below thefloorto which the drain is connected. Because of flooding, the drains incommon use are slow in remo' ing liquid and several of them must be usedat one time in order to removethe liquid effectively. By providing adrain of this invention, on the contrary,-several of the old types ofdrains may be entirely eliminated, because the new drain is as effectiveas a number of the old drains for removing. the same amount of liquid.Even when. the

drain tube 20 is depressed to its lowermost position as shown in phantomin Fig. 1, the

liquid will be rapidly carried away because I it flows through weepslots16 in flange 17 as well as through strainer 22 to a point well-v 1mounted.

below the surface in fwhich the J drain is Although a specific,embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described; it is tobe understood that the embodiment is susceptible'to many changes withinthe scope of the invention. Amongsuch changes may f be thevariation ofthe pitohof the slanting adjusting bars 23, whereby a morerapidadjustment is obtainable, or-these bars may be made horizontal, theadjustment being o-btained by working the tube either up or 7 down sothat the'projections 19 pass through slots 24, and then rotating thetube slot" slightly when the required adjustment is obtained so thatadjusting bars 23 restuo-pn the projections 19 at that point.

I claim: j V

, 1. In a drain, the combination of a tubu- I lar sleeve adapted to beconnected to a waste pipe, said tubular sleeve having a plurality ofWeep slots in theinterior of the sleeve, a plurality of projectionsspaced along the aforesaid interior ofthe sleeve, and admin tubeadjustably supported within the sleeve upon said projections.

' 2. In a drain, the cQmbinationof a tubular sleeve adapted to be'connected to. a'waste. pipe, said tubular sleeve having a'plurality' ofweep slots in the interior of the sleeve, and 7 :1 a plurality of draingrooves communicating therewith a plurality of projections spaced alongthe aforesaid interior of the sleeve, and

" avdrain tube supported within the sleeveupon 7 said projections.

' In testimony whereof I afi'iXmy signature. I

' 7 DAVID S. WILLIAMS.

